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Guppu.Com | News Alert | Int’l Desk
Source/Credit: Dawn News
By News Agencies | September 20, 2011

QUETTA: Gunmen opened fire on a bus in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan in a suspected sectarian attack on Tuesday, killing around 24 Shia Muslim pilgrims travelling to Iran, police said.

“The bus was travelling to the town of Tuftan when it was attacked,” a police official in Quetta, the provincial capital, told Reuters.

The gunmen were riding on a motorcycle. According to sources the gunmen entered the bus and opened fire, DawnNews reported.

Emergency was declared in hospitals in Quetta. The death toll is expected to rise.

See original post here: Around 24 Shia pilgrims killed in Quetta

Editors Note: We’re launching this new series in the wake of worst on going sectarian crises in Pakistan. We have named it as “Sectarian Emergency!” Please write to us and contribute blog posts / news items on the subject.

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In the aftermath of todays deadly twin bomb blasts at the Shia pilgrims, the scholars of Jafarria Alliance notably Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi has blasted the United States of America in strong words stating that these terrorists pretend to be Anti-American and in fact are working on the very own agenda of the US and that very agenda is to destabilize and disintegrate Pakistan.

Allama Naqvi said that there was no chance of sectarian crises because the examplary religious harmony can be seen in the Shia-Sunni community of Pakistan. He said that these attacks are rather an attempt from America to provoke sectarian crises amongst the masses in Pakistan that would ultimately lead to the disaster and bloodshed in every street. Allama further appealed to the Shia community to stay calm and united for the sake of the country’s stability.

The US relations with Pakistan have always been facing the criticism from the general citizens of Pakistan. The hatred and anti-American sentiments in Pakistan are at large once again. People always had the concern and had condemned the drone attacks within our territory, the political relations, and their demands of ‘do more’. Dr. Afia’s case decision added the fuel in the fire and again, today, the reaction of these attacks on Shia community.

In the concluding note, I being a citizen of Pakistan, can see a great .. GREAT.. anti-Americanism among people of Pakistan and I believe this to be a critical phase for Pak-American relations.